ARCANUM – The Arcanum Trojans are looking to rely on veteran leadership to turn their round ball season around from last year when they took a tumble from the top ranks of the always competitive Cross County Conference.

The Trojans will be in action very shortly with their first game coming up this Saturday night when they face Darke County foe Greenville, who is looking to rebound as well from a subpar year. The Trojans will have a strong 22-game schedule that will have them playing some of the best teams around who will always bring their “A’” game against the Arcanum 10-man roster.

The Trojans will be led into battle with a new voice in Jim Melton, who comes over from the crossroads state in Indiana. The Trojans play such stalwarts as Russia, Miami East, Fort Recovery, Franklin-Monroe, plus the Jet Holiday tournament which is sometimes no holiday to play in. They will possibly face a talented squad in Brookville under Versailles native Jeff Davidson, who is returning 8 seniors.

Arcanum is returning five seniors in honorable mention all-conference players Evan Atchley, Lane Byrne, Wade Meeks, Zach Smith and Isaiah Hootman. Smith at 6-foot-4 and Atchley at 6-3 will provide the post help for the orange and black attack. More veteran help will come from the five juniors comprising the rest of the varsity team. The first junior to mention is Carter Gray, who was all-conference last year and only looks to get better and at 6-3 can battle with the big boys underneath or shoot from the perimeter. Grant Delk is a returning letterman and also has nice height at 6-4 and will be counted on in the middle. Austin Cutarelli is another 6-footer who has advanced from the junior varsity squad last year. Cory Ross also moved up from the reserve squad last year and could be be a spark plug on offense and defense with his speed. J.T. Whittaker is the last junior to mention on the 10-man varsity squad and is another upperclassman that has moved up from the reserve ranks.

”Our back court will feature multiple Trojans with Wade Meeks leading the way. The middle will be manned by Grant Delk, Lane Byrne and Zach Smith. We have the same junior varsity coach in Chey Kramer but we have new assistant coaches in Shean Bosworth and Barry Miller to round out the staff. We hope to capitalize on the veterans for a successful season as we open up at home against the Greenville Green Wave on Dec. 1,” Melton said.